Strength through Will-Power - Contd - 2

Suppose we watch a video film on the life of Lord Gauranga and
witness him lying in samadhi, we are inspired to strive for similar bliss. But
when we watch a bad film on the same video, we are doing something we should
not. We are aware of our mistake but are unable to stop ourselves. We have no
control over ourselves because we lack will power.

In brief, we must have control
over our speech, we must desist from sinful acts and strive to do good. But we
fail in all these and come to grief. Knowingly and unknowingly we step into
this trap of wrong doing. All this is because we are constitutionally weak and
sin is the easier way out.

This of course is a negative
doctrine. Swami Vivekananda, a true Vedantist, said during one of his lectures
in the USA, "Who says we are sinners? It is a sin to call a man a sinner.
We are the children of immortal bliss." What he meant was that we are
prone to evil not because there is something wrong with us; we are
intrinsically pure, divine, a spirit eternally free, according to Swami
Vivekananda. We are led to do wrong because we lack will power. Therefore the important
point is to strive to cultivate will power without which we will never be able
to recover hope.

In effect, we all want to lead
a meaningful, purposeful life in this world, to become successful. But we find
that in spite of our efforts we fail. The ultimate analysis is that though we
have no inherent defect we lack the fundamental virtue of iccha shakti. Often I
am asked how a person can develop will power. Let me discuss that point now.

Before we discuss the process
which leads to the development of will power let us understand what will power
is. Will power is that which helps a person to do what he or she knows is good
or right and avoid those things which our inner voice tells us is wrong and
should not be done under any circumstance. Will power is something positive and
creative which enables us to follow the right path in a definite way. For
instance, we would like to get up early in the morning, or not watch a film on
video/TV, etc. We decide to remain calm under any provocation. If we develop
will power we shall succeed in all this; otherwise we shall fail. Thus we can
say that willpower is that force which enables us to get rid of all bad forces
and helps us to put into practice what we propose to do.

Strength through Will-Power - Contd - 2
Reviewed by creativeworld9
on
11:03 AM
Rating: 5 Suppose we watch a video film on the life of Lord Gauranga and witness him lying in samadhi, we are inspired to strive for similar bliss. ...